Projects and Products to Make the World a Happier Place. Jennifer Heynen designs sewing patterns, craft kits, quilting fabric, licenses her art to companies for Garden Flags, Bags, Accessories and more all in a Happy and Bright Style.

Jennifer Jangles

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

This is going to be a super quick post today, because yikes, I have a lot to do still. Yesterday I worked on bags and wallhangings. I finished up 11 bags and got about half way through on my wallhangings. Today the day is going tobe spent in the glaze studio, glazing all the beads I possibly can for jewelry. I will let you know how that goes tomorrow...

Monday, September 28, 2009

How fun is this? Studios Magazine is having an open studios virtual tour this Saturday. Stop back by on Saturday morning and I will give you a tour of my studio in it's crazy pre-art show state. Maybe I will have some before and after pictures...

Then after checking out my studio you can get to their site and see other artist studios. Super cool!

Hey there! I told you Friday I was painting...and here's the proof. Whew! It was a long day but I got lots finished. Above are my wood plaques for my wall hangings. Below is the fabric I painted for more bags. I love painting with paint, it's instant gratification. I don't have to wait on the kiln to fire.While I have been working I have been thinking about my display. I will write more on that later but IO decided to paint some signs and pieces to bring the jewelry, bags, and wall hangings together. I found a cool Christmas tree for my ornaments at Hobby Lobby but I had to add some dots to it to make it Jangle-ly.We had these doors from another project set aside in the garage so I painted them black and I plan to hang hooks on it to display my wall hangings.I still might paint a little sign on it too, but I couldn't decide at the time.Here are my signs I painted, yes they are painted on a pizza box. I will trim them up later.

Today, I am going to be making beads. I still need to make quite a few for the show. But first, it's Monday so I think I am going to call a Jangles board meeting to get a big fat to-do list compiled for the week. Otis, (my dog), really hates to sit through these meetings, but he's my only employee. :)

Friday, September 25, 2009

I am feeling pretty good today, I got a lot accomplished yesterday. I started out the morning with the cleaning and organizing. I found some beads and some jewelry, but not as much as I was hoping for. I laid out on my work table everything I had and then made a big list of supplies that I needed. I got them ordered and they are on their way, but they won't be here until Wednesday so the end of next week will be saved for assembly. After placing my online orders I went to Hobby Lobby and found a cute tree to hang my ornaments on and got some other essential supplies for my wall hangings and bags. Once I got home I still had some time before the boys got off the bus, so I got some pendants and earring pairs painted and in the kiln. That's a pretty good day, I thought.

Well it turns out teh Grey's anatomy season opener was on last night so after the munchkins went to bed I headed back down to the studio to make jewelry. I could sit on my comfy couch and watch TV while I made jewelry. I got a bunch made because the show was so long! Above is a picture of my work table after I had gathered all of my beads. Below is a picture of my work table after my evening of work.

Heather over at Art Bead Scene had a great post yesterday. It gave us a list of what you should plan to bring to an art fair. It could not have come at a better time for me. Check it out if you are doing any shows soon.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Good morning...alrighty today is the day I start getting ready for this art fair. Yesterday I spent the day wrapping up orders and things that really needed to get done. I sent out jewelry catalogs to shops that had requested them, got some holiday orders ready to ship, photographed some new Etsy items, and so on and so on. I wasn't going to be able to think straight unless I cleared everything off my plate.

This morning is going to be spent cleaning up my studio. Seriously, I have beads everywhere. I am hoping to find enough to start working on jewelry. I don't have tons of time to make beads so I will start with cleaning. Above is my work table...what a wreck. Below is a tray of beads from a project I was working on. I have lots of trays like that. I am going to clear off my work table and start grouping beads together that will work for bracelets, necklaces, etc.

After I get organized, I am going to order supplies. It's going to be tight to get them here in time to make jewelry. I might just have to pay extra for faster shipping.

Here is a tray of unfinished bags. I can get those sewn up pretty quick. The show director specifically asked for bags and wall hangings in my booth as well as my jewelry. I would have probably left them out otherwise. She saw the new Jangles Emporium and that's what sold her on asking me into the fair. I am happy to bring them, but it does throw a hitch into the designing of my booth. I was going to go with one long table but that's a lot of different work to combine in one spot. While I am cleaning today, I will be thinking of display ideas.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I moved to Athens three years ago and I have to admit I am terrible at getting out and trying to get the local people to know my art. I don't have a gallery in town that carries my work, I am too big of a chicken to walk into a store and ask them to carry my things. I have applied to a little show in town for the past three years and can't get in. They have their set list of local artists and I guess I am too new to be one of them. It's not that I really want to do art fairs again, they are such hard work. But, I would like to have one to look forward to in the fall, I don't get out much in the fall, (for Jangles).

So yesterday I got a call from the woman who runs the Norcross ArtFest, she had a booth available and loves my work. It's an hour away from my house in a really cute town. Nice hours, good food, super cool artists, etc. The only hitch, it's October 3-4th! That's in a week and a half. It's not every day you get invited to be in a show, so I had to say yes.

Now that leaves me with a huge task over the next week, I have to make art. I need jewelry, small flowers, supply bags, and wall hangings. Plus then there is the whole display. See that picture above? That was my last art fair display. I was 23 in that picture, now let's just say I am older. Luckily, I have always used black in my displays and I have saved everything, seriously I could outfit a store in displays, I have so much stuff. It's just the digging out that will take awhile. So if you don't mind, for the next week or so I will be taking you on my fast paced, getting ready for my first art fair journey, via the blog.

Monday, September 21, 2009

It keeps raining here... it's been raining for a week now and is supposed to continue until mid-week. It's quite crazy. I think we have gotten at least seven inches. Anyway, we were all stuck inside this weekend, so I did quite a bit of crafting. I made some pendants for Holiday sales and worked on a quilt. The pendants are above.

I got an e-mail from a customer who made a super cool bag and used one of my pendants as a closure. It's knitted and felted and if that's your "thing", you should check it out here. I love the bumps on the bag. I wish I could knit....ah...maybe someday.

Alrighty, it's Monday and that means a big to-do list is about to be made....I will have more to blog about tomorrow.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Check out my new widget over there on the right. Only nineteen days left until the Holiday newsletters start. I got my first order for Holiday beads this week. It was my wake-up moment. I realized I need to step it up around here and get making things in red and green. I am really happy with the Holiday projects so far, there might be some bonus projects in there because I can seem to just keep the number to ten.

You're going to hear this a lot from me over the next few weeks, sorry faithful newsletter readers, sign up now so you don't miss out. The projects are only in the newsletters.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

I bought the cutest little pumpkins and gourds the other day at the farmers market. There's one of the pumpkins in the picture above. I need to take some more photographs with my gourds. The Halloween necklace went out in my monthly newsletter yesterday. You can always sign up here if you didn't get it.

Not much exciting has been going on in the Jangles studio this week to tell you about. I have been working hard and getting lot's of things checked off my list. I started the week with a huge to-do list and I am whittling it down day by day. That's exciting for me, but it doesn't give me a whole lot to write about. But I will tell you about what I bought this week....

I am a sucker for art supplies and I can justify any purchase to myself. I always "need" the right tools. You know how that goes....well I decided that I absolutely needed a set of Copic markers. I have been doing some drawings lately with sharpies and I like them but the colors are limited. I started doing some research and came across Copic. At the same time I happened to be reading "Where Women Create", (love that mag!) anyway, Mary Engelbreit said she loved her Copics. Well, there you go....I was sold. So I sucked it up and bought them. They are expensive, but once again they are for art. I drew out my name in my new fancy markers and decided that would be my new signature on my blog. What do you think? Maybe at the holidays I will change it up and make it Christmas-sy.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Just added a bunch of new listings in the Etsy shop. These have been really popular and so I got as many sets together as I could. I am now out of found objects so I need to get out and search for some more soon.

Before I go, I wanted to mention that my friend Heather of Humblebeads has a bead cruise. I have heard nothing but great things about it. It sets sail this January and people are signing up for it now. I know in the past it has sold out, so if you're thinking about it sign up now.

There's a Jangles newsletter going out tomorrow, if you're not signed up go to my homepage now and at the bottom of the page is a sign up.

Monday, September 14, 2009

I don't know where the last two weeks have gone! Time is flying by and obviously I haven't been much of a blogger. But I am back now.

I goofed off this Friday and went to Atlanta with my friend Katie. We went to one of the international farmers markets and bought lots of food. I took the picture above while I was there. It's dragonfruit. How pretty are they? I didn't buy any though. I was on a mission. I was after things for canning. After years of being afraid of canning, I tried a small batch of peppers last week. They turned out great and so I decided to try some more. Before I go on about canning, let me say this. I hate to cook. The only way I like to do it is to make it an all day event. So that was my plan for Sunday. Nik and I spent the day canning.

We made mustard, taco sauce, pickled okra, pickled banana peppers and more. I made a bunch of little pizzas and froze fruit too. Huge day in the kitchen. The best part is now I get to make cute labels for all my jars of canned goods.

This was Otis at the end of the day. I felt the same way...Have a good one,Jennifer

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Hope everyone had a great three day weekend. I am slowly getting things done today, it's always hard to jump back in after a long break.

We have workers here at our house today sealing the eaves of our roof. We have bats living in the soffits. They estimate 100 of them. Now that it's staying dark in the mornings, we have notice bats flying around the house and hitting the walls. We also, have been "swooped" a few times by them. We had some experts out and they found that they are living in our house. Eeek!Today they are sealing up every nook and cranny today to hopefully keep them out for good. They are going to put valves that will let the bats fly out but not get back in. So tomorrow morning, I am guessing there are going to be a lot of bats flying around looking for a new home. Sorry bats....

Friday, September 4, 2009

Yes, I have another project made with my new embellishment beads. I just can't stop, they are a lot of fun to work with. The cording goes through the middle of the bead. I folded it in half and slid on three large holed beads. I added the clasp last. Piece of cake!It's Friday, wahoo! and it's the last weekend of summer. I hope everyone gets out there and enjoys it. I plan on it. Today I am going to do my best to get some new beads up on Etsy before I turn off the computer for a few days. I am really excited about the mixes I will be posting. I think these are some of my favorite beads yet. I am in love with the colors. Not surprising, eh?

Thursday, September 3, 2009

I needed a place to sell my jewelry, my Jangles Etsy shop is crowded with beads and I found myself confused when I added jewelry there. I figure if I am confused, there must be other confused people out there too. I decided to open a gift shop. Here are a few pictures of what you will find in theJangles Emporium. All items are made by me and I will be adding more items as the days move on.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Just as I promised...My New Halloween Beads! I am super happy with how they turned out. Anytime I can cram a few more polka dots on a bead, I am happy. I have put them up in the "What's New" section. I also just listed a bunch in theEtsy shopwith coordinating beads. Here's a few below.

I have spent the entire day at the computer getting these photos edited and up so now it is time to get up and do some stretches, whew.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

I know, I know, it's the first of September but for me it's time to be working on Christmas plans. I promise tomorrow I will be back to fall mode. I am even going to debut my new Halloween beads here tomorrow. Make sure you check back.

But in the meantime, this is what I have been working on. This is a wreath I made for a local United Way fundraiser. The wreaths will be auctioned off in November, but they were due last week. All of the stars and balls on the wreath are ceramic just in case you were wondering. Did you know I used to be a florist? When I saw they were looking for wreath donations, I jumped at the chance to make one.

These are my new little snowmen and trees. They are little gifts. These are for a store, they are going to use them to decorate their jewelry display cases for the holidays. How cute will that be? I have been busy making lots for galleries because this is the time of year store owners start preparing for the holiday buying season.

It may technically be the last weekend of summer, but in the Jangles world it's Christmas.

Book: Sew Small

BOOK: Stitch Kitsch

BOOK: Extraordinary Colors

BOOK: Ceramic Bead Jewelry

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Jennifer Jangles uses affiliate programs from time to time for income. These are links that lead to Amazon, Craftsy, and others. This helps me be able to bring you free projects. I never link to anything that I don't personally use or recommend, you can be sure of that. I take this very seriously. As always, please contact me if you have questions.